Vote for the Metal Artist of the Year – 2017 Loudwire Music Awards

Even as we approach 50 years of metal's existence, the genre continues to evolve and flourish. The nominees for Metal Artist of the Year in the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards range from powerhouse veteran acts to sensational newcomers.

Metallica have enjoyed one of the most successful years of their career, netting a platinum certification for Hardwired... To Self-Destruct and playing to hundreds of thousands of fans on a massive summer stadium tour across North America, an unparalleled feat for a band this heavy.

Joining Metallica were Avenged Sevenfold, who opted to delay their own headlining tour for the chance to open for Metallica, supporting their latest release, The Stage. They brought a mesmerizing and elaborate stage show to Europe and have cemented themselves as one of metal's biggest modern day acts.

Mastodon, another standout modern metal act, had the highest-selling album in the country during the debut week of the tripped-put, multi-metal-dimensional Emperor of Sand album, which serves as a bit of a quintessential album for the group, hitting on all sonic aspects of their career while still introducing new ideas.

Body Count date back to the early '90s, often considered a bit of a cult act before rekindling their success in the late 2010s. Bloodlust is an album many are calling the band's best as it combines brutish, groove-laden riffs with the indomitable flow of Ice-T and his confrontational lyrics which address current socio-political issues affecting the United States.

Slaying the underground and surging the pulse of concertgoers everywhere, Code Orange and Power Trip are two of the most talked about acts of 2017. Code Orange's Forever album has made a major impact in the metal / hardcore scene and the band has backed it up with dominant live performances. Power Trip have been doing the same onstage, igniting incessant circle pits and stage dives to lean, neck-wrecking offerings from Nightmare Logic.

Vote up to once per hour for your favorite nominee in the poll below. The voting period ends Oct. 2 at 11:59PM ET. Winners will be announced at the Loudwire Music Awards ceremony taking place Oct. 24 at The Novo in Los Angeles. In addition to revealing the winners, the ceremony will feature performances by Anthrax, Halestorm, Body Count, Starset, Nothing More, Power Trip and more, while honoring Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford.

Get full details on the Loudwire Music Awards concert and ceremony here and purchase your tickets for the show at this location.